Lagoon caretakers needs new volunteers

CARLSBAD — You can get up close and personal with the birds and other wildlife at your local lagoon. The Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation is now taking applications for the 2010 volunteer training sessions to be held Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 20 through April 10 at the Batiquitos Lagoon Nature Center.
Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation is a volunteer-supported organization, and therefore, volunteers are vitally important. The training will provide an overview of the lagoon’s habitat, its history and the foundation’s role to preserve, protect and enhance this important ecological reserve. The non-refundable fee for the training is $50 and covers course expenses, students’ workbooks, and a one-year membership in the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation. Space is limited to the first 20 paid applicants. For more information, call the Batiquitos Lagoon Nature Center at (760) 931-0800 or visit www.batiquitosfoundation.org, where people may also register online.
Once feared lost as a natural habitat for many endangered species, the Batiquitos Lagoon has made a remarkable recovery in recent years and is now one of Southern California’s most valued natural resources. In 1983 Batiquitos Lagoon was in serious trouble, cut off from the ocean by an accumulation of sand and cobbles. Stagnant water held huge floating mats of algae, aiding in severe water levels and temperatures making fish die-offs common.
At this time, a group of determined volunteers formed the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation as a nonprofit corporation with the mission to preserve, protect and enhance the Batiquitos Lagoon Ecological Reserve with the goal of bringing this vital natural resource back to health. Now, 26 years later, the lagoon has been restored and reconnected with the ocean and wildlife flourishes.